Someone once said, “You are what you eat.” Since our body’s cells are continually dying off and new ones are being formed every second this saying is actually true. Mistakenly, in our fast food, junk food societies the building blocks we often provide for our body’s reformation are not ideal.
Improving your eating habits is not easy, but it can be done. The first step is taking an objective look what you currently eat and drink. One of the best tools you can use to get a clear picture is a food log.
Keeping a food log consists of writing down everything you each and drink for a series of days. I recommend doing this for a week or at least three consecutive weekdays and two weekend days. It is easy to have one “good” or “bad” day nutritionally speaking, but when you look at a five to seven days of intake you get a clear picture of how you are doing.
From the time you get up until the time you go to bed write down everything you eat and drink. Be specific and honest, if you don’t write something down correctly you are doing yourself a disservice. Basically if something goes in your mouth, write it down.
Be sure to include the following details:
- Record beverages such as alcohol, water, coffee (indicate decaf or regular), tea (type), soda pop (indicate sugar-free or regular), juices, or anything else you drink in ounces or liters.
- Record solid food in cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, etc.
- Provide brand names, recipe information and method of cooking (baked, fried, broiled, boiled, steamed, etc.)
- Indicate sizes for fresh fruits (small, medium or large).
- Time of day food is eaten.
- If you are doing some other activity while eating or drinking besides just sitting at the table record the activity (watching television, driving, etc.)
Once you have your records sit down with a nutritionist or qualified professional to review your results. There are numerous websites such as fitday.com where you can track calorie count, percentage of calories that come from protein, fat, and carbohydrate, vitamin/mineral content and more.
Small changes in your nutritional habits can make a big difference in how you look, feel, and perform. Do not try to change too much too soon. Pick one aspect of your eating habits that needs improvement and focus on that. Once you have that under control go to the next area. Don’t aim for perfection rather improvement and steady progress toward a more balanced nutritional plan.
